One of the richest collections of early-human fossils ever found has been hauled out of an African cave, thanks to the efforts of a handpicked team of scientists slender enough to fit through ancient narrow passageways, researchers announced today.
The fossils, discovered in the dark reaches of the Rising Star cave in South Africa, belong to a new species that arose at the dawn of the family that includes modern humans, the researchers say in a paper in the scientific journal eLife.
The fossils' age is unknown, but they could be more than 2.5 million years old.